Blackfeather Woods One way trigger

Once again Damien had failed to get enough food for both his brother and himself, and with just one catch, enough only for @Cicero, Damien returned to his den. He was panting, exhausted even though the grouse had been easy to catch. The heat wasn't helping, and Damien's ever weakening body was on the edge of rickety, and he was still determined to survive.

He thrust the bird inside the den, and laid down in the entrance without saying a word. Cicero would eat first, and then Damien had some serious business to talk about with him. His comment after the uprising had not gone unnoticed, and Damien needed to know Cicero's true intentions behind the words. If he meant what Damien was thinking, the dark prince would have to consider opening space for his sibling to lead beside him, which did not seem like a bad idea at all.

Cicero refused to eat more than he truly needed, the minimum; besides, through the hunger his body was still unable to pick up too much food and so he would leave pieces for Damien, too. He rather they both be feeded half than one of them fully, for they both needed their strength in time to come. Cicero was at times fearful for what the future would bring if Nemesis would continue to lead alongside Damien. She was a fine Beta in his eyes, but too fiery to stand beside his brother. Ambitious, yes, but not of Meldresi's blood.

When Damien arrived with the grouse Cicero licked his lips and looked up at his brother with appreciation in his eyes. He had grown stronger over the past weeks, and though his bones were still sticking out, he felt stronger. Cicero started to eat while he looked at Damien, fully intending to leave him some; yet knowing that offering some now would be of no point, for his brother would refuse until Cicero had eaten.

"Did you finish that?" asked Damien, as hunger swept in with strength. Cicero kept staring at him like his intention was to tempt him to eat, but Damien had been trying to relent food for his brother to regain strength. It was true, Cicero was stronger now and looked a lot better, and Damien was the opposite, but the young spy's health was far more important for now. Damien could still go a little bit longer without food.

"I need to discuss something with you," the dark prince spoke with a bit of a rush, "About what you said the other day... When Burke stepped down," he explained. Surely, Cicero would know what Damien was talking about, and surely there was a whole speech behind that short phrase about how Nemesis shouldn't be ruling with Damien, but as always, nothing was certain when dealing with Cicero.

In response to Damien's question, Cicero nodded and nosed the remains of the grouse towards his brother -- a little over half was left for him. Cicero did not want Damien's health to falter further and so he gladly shared with his brother on this meal.

"Ah, yes," said Cicero at Damien's next words, and he looked attentively towards his brother. His words, though few, had been clear enough, he felt. He wondered what Damien had to say about them now, and so he settled in to listen.

This time Damien didn't hold back when his brother tossed half the grouse to him. He ate, for the first time in days, and took little time finishing the piece off. Only bones were left behind, and the dark prince kicked them out of the den when he was done.

Then came what was really important about the meeting. At first Damien didn't know where to start, words were always complicated to pick when talking to Cicero, but he figured the best way to go about that topic was head on.

"I trust no one like I trust you, Cero. You know that..." he said looking at his brother in the eye with respect. And he went full head-on about the matter. "I get it that you believe you should lead Blackfeather Woods with me, is that right?"

It was true, Cicero did believe that Damien trusted him more than any other -- though whether that said much about him or all the others was yet to be seen. It was also true that he had meant that it was his task to lead alongside his brother that day. Nemesis was just more fuel into the fire, rather than the tampering of the fire that Damien needed at times to make rational decisions.

And so he nodded. "Nemesis is reckless and emotional. Damien needs someone with a steady mind to stand beside him." He needed the tampered fire, someone to hold him back when it was just to do so, yet to encourage him and stand by his side, undyingly faithful, should it be needed so. Cicero was not sure he was the most suitable for this task. He knew his mind to be unstable at times, he knew about the beast inside. He was perhaps not the most suitable -- yet likely the most suitable here. Perhaps Potema was the only other wolf he would shove forward for such a task, but perhaps there were options to do so later. For now, he simply awaited Damien's response, finding it hard to gauge whether Damien would agree with him or berate him for his arrogance.

He listened attentively, looking right into Cicero's miss-matched eyes with interest. That phrase had been going around his head ever since Cicero spoke it: 'Damien knows who the one standing beside him should be' and every time he went over it again, it made even more sense. There was no discussing that only Meldresi's child had a rightful claim to Blackfeather Woods. None like her first borns knew the ways of the brotherhood better, but Damien had been too blinded by his arrogance and ambition to see that Cicero and Potema were Meldresi's son and daughter as well, having just as much right to claim the priestess' legacy as Damien.

And all of that came to his realization when Cicero claimed Damien was not complete with only Nemesis by his side. Like Cicero said, she was only more fuel to Damien's destructive fire, which the shadow prince recognized to be a dangerous trait in himself.

"Nemesis did well in her time as Beta. I believe she still has a lot to give to this pack," stated Damien resolutely, just to see what Cicero's reaction would be to that. Nemesis was not going anywhere anytime soon, she was a Dark Sister, and the only one with the experience in leadership (aside from Kove's failed attempt at leading Bearclaw Valley). Damien needed Nemesis, and although it wasn't in the same way, Nemesis needed Damien.

The eye contact was welcomed by Cicero; he fueled it further, he embraced it, mismatched eyes staring into Damien's as they spoke. He knew that he asked for a lot, and it was perhaps for that reason that he did no more than ask. Despite being fearful for the future were the Woods to stay solely in the arms of Nemesis and Damien, Cicero had always felt his role to be one of watcher, of listener, of advisor in the most cryptic of ways. He had never been one to speak straight forward, and though it could have made a difference in situations he did not regret his actions or lack thereof.

A smile tugged at his lips at Damien's words. It felt as though he was trying to trick the trickster, make him slip up and claim power by bringing down potential opponents. It was not hard for Cicero not to snap at the bait; he had no one to bring down for he did not see opponents or enemies; solely other wolves with each their own strengths. "Damien is right. Nemesis is a good Beta." A mischievous smile danced even in his mismatched eyes as he gave his answer. There was so much more hidden in those words than one could tell at first glance. Yet Cicero knew he need not explain Damien the second glance.

Well, at least he tried. He was truly expecting to piss Cicero off at least a little bit, but it seemed he was too good at that game for Damien to play it with him. But instead of getting mad himself, Damien realized that his brother's abilities were unlike anyone else's in the pack.

"You're unique," stated the shadow prince passionately, looking at his brother with a glint in his eye, and then got up to leave the den. Just like that. Had it been necessary? Absolutely not, but Damien had little else to tell his brother. He had already made a choice.

He had to admit that it was disappointing that Damien did not snap for the bait. Cicero did not think he need finish his sentence -- she was a good Beta, but not the one to stand by Damien's side, in his view -- but now he was left wondering if Damien understood, or if he had simply expected a different sort of reply. Yet from the conversation awhole Cicero felt that Damien understood to some extent the value that Cicero could add as leader by his side. That was enough for him and thus he felt no need to push it, for his own ambitions were limited to what he felt was best for the pack and for Damien. So should they choose differently, the warning had been uttered, the preference been shared; they would be informed, as Damien was informed. While Cicero had expected the conversation to turn towards his promotion it did not, instead turning towards a finishing.

He nodded. "It is good not to make hasty decisions. Think on it a while." And he watched as Damien departed, a smile on his face even though the meeting had not turned out like he had hoped nor expected. But then, he was not the only one who was unique.